In a recent report on school education, Niti Aayog has flagged two nagging problems. One, persistently high number of out-of-school children, and two, weak learning outcomes that frustrate much of the hard-earned achievements of universal enrolment at the primary and upper-primary levels. With four out of 10 children aged 6-17 years not in school, a deepening crisis in learning levels, and average years of schooling lower than developed countries, including China and East Asia, the pursuit of the goals of Viksit Bharat would be challenging.
While the estimates of out-of-school children vary, they are higher in rural areas, among SCs, STs, Muslims, and girls, and are concentrated in a few states. The majority of out-of-school children are concentrated in UP, Bihar, MP, and Rajasthan. Further, it is higher in boys than in girls, the reason being that boys are often expected to support family income at an early stage, whereas girls are relatively more likely to complete school education once they transition to secondary school.
A recent study on out-of-school children shows that high aspiration of parents for the education of their children, especially among the poor and the marginalised, co-exists with high levels of disillusionment with school education, leading to withdrawal of children from schools. NFHS-V shows that a significant proportion of adolescents disengage from schooling due to a lack of interest, non-fulfillment of aspirations, and discouraging school experiences, among others.
While we emphasise the primacy of disillusionment from school education as an important reason, there are multiple, and sometimes correlated factors, like poverty, migration, gender and disability barriers, and spatial factors, like migration, homelessness and children in remote and conflict-affected regions. General incentives like uniforms, books, mid-day meals etc. are not very effective for such children.
Second, secondary and higher secondary schools are not adequate. Distance and safety concerns of girls are barriers for their continuing school beyond the upper-primary level. Language problems, inadequate infrastructure, dysfunctional WASH facilities, and the absence of a supportive and child-friendly learning environment are other factors.
Third, rigid administrative norms and limited school autonomy continue to deprive migrants and homeless children. Denial of admission, non-issuing of transfer certificates, and restricted access to welfare-linked entitlements (their non-portability), non-recognition of caste certificates of other states, often hinder such enrolment.
Fourth, while policy attention has largely focused on the 6–14 age group, an obligation under the RTE Act, the problem is more pronounced among 15-17 years, that is, secondary and higher secondary levels.
Fifth, while technology-enabled initiatives such as the PRABANDH portal at the national level and the School Har Din Aaye (SHARDA) portal in Uttar Pradesh have strengthened the identification, tracking, and monitoring of out-of-school children, implementation challenges persist. Integration of technology-driven tracking mechanisms with community-level interventions can ensure completion of school education. The Communitisation Act of Nagaland is an example worth emulating.
As India moves towards the fulfilment of the vision of “Viksit Bharat” by 2047, SDG-4 goals by 2030, and with the rollout of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that aims at achieving 50 per cent enrolment in higher education by 2030, it is of utmost importance to recognise the gravity of the problem of out-of-school children, make a holistic and comprehensive assessment of its nature, dimension and magnitude, and focus more on 14-years plus children. There is a need to move towards multi-level and coordinated inclusion strategies that recognise the interdependence of household conditions, school-side factors, systemic, and governance challenges.
Pankaj is professor, Poornima is assistant professor and Kaur is senior research associate, Council for Social Development, New Delhi
